


Tea Time for Two

by AngryRedOctopus



Category: Kuroshitsuji | Black Butler
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-26
Updated: 2018-12-26
Packaged: 2019-09-27 13:30:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,899
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17162855
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AngryRedOctopus/pseuds/AngryRedOctopus
Summary: A Christmas gift for Love My Ciel on tumblr!  Thank you so much for everything this past year!  Prompt was first kiss.





	Tea Time for Two

Wafting scents of chamomile and rooibos drifted through the air as Sebastian entered the small tea shop with a chiming of the bell.  Outside he had scratched the head of a cat that didn’t belong to the shop per se, but treated it like its home anyway.  It had been a while now that he’d been coming to this small oasis.  The tea was quite good, and the ability to sit and write as long as he needed to was reason enough.  But the real reason he came was a certain slate haired young man who lounged like he was a prince in a palace at the back.  And Sebastian supposed he was.  It was his tea house after all.  At the time Sebastian hadn’t even been able to imagine such a place. 

The address on the card had read the same way that the numbers on the building had.  But Sebastian hadn’t been able to imagine he was in the right place.  He had been looking for a quiet place that didn’t dislike people staying for long periods of time to write.  His latest book had been coming along well enough, but he just couldn’t concentrate at home.  And other coffee shops either didn’t like people staying for long periods of time, or were too busy and filled with nosy people who might pester him should they recognize his face.  An online search had provided him with a highly recommended secluded spot that was known for happily letting patrons sit for hours working away from work. 

Sebastian had climbed the stairs to the second story tucked away shop and cautiously opened the door.  A fuzzy blond-haired young man had cheerily greeted him from the counter, and gestured him to set up wherever he wished.  Despite being a rainy day, there hadn’t been any patrons in.  Dark wood tables and chairs scattered about the small space that was lined with windows, and a couple booth seats with embroidered upholstery.  Sebastian choose the comfy booth with views of the street below, and set up his work space.  A decent variety of hot and cold teas were available with pastries and sandwiches.  Sebastian had found a black tea that suited him and was promised it delivered; but he wandered around a bit in the meantime.  There he had seen the proprietor, who had a small office space set up behind a screen, as well as a lounge area of fluffy pillows and oversized stuffed toys to serve as furniture.  On that off day, he had been lounging with a cup of earl grey tea in fine china and a copy of Sherlock Holmes on his lap.  He was utterly regal in his lounge wear and biting his lip while flipping pages.  Sebastian had been smitten and hard pressed to return to his seat. 

And from then onward he’d continued to write near on everyday at the tea shop.  It wasn’t often that he was able to snag the owner’s attention and converse with him, but there were days where Ciel Phantomhive was bored enough to grace the writer with his presence.  He didn’t seem to know or care who Sebastian was.  But he was appreciative of Sebastian’s great knowledge of literature that they could share.  Victorian and mystery novels seemed to be some of Ciel’s favorites, so the writer made sure to brush up on his knowledge and revisit those books.  And while the tea and sandwiches were quite good, the pastries left something to be desired in the place.  When Sebastian had brought his own scones from home one time, Ciel had swiped one in annoyance that outside food had been brought in.  But one bite of the fluffy sweet goodness had certainly taken any chastisement out of him, and he encouraged the man to bring his creations whenever he “had some left lying about”. 

Today there was chocolate cake, Ciel’s favorite Sebastian had found, and he carried it in an old glass container that he hoped would present well.  He was generally hoping that the owner would have time to spare that day, and that there would be few people who would be snooping about trying to wrangle time out of either of them.  While Sebastian wanted the tea shop to succeed it was not at the price of his comfort and quiet. 

As Sebastian was settling into his usual spot, he heard an unusual voice coming from behind Ciel’s screen, “…you can’t sustain this.”

Ciel’s voice was bitter, “Well if Victoria feels that way that’s her business. And this is mine.  MY personal expenditures and effort.”

The usual baristas, Finny, Bard and Meirin were all looking stricken and made desperate eyes at Sebastian.  He smiled reassuringly, but wasn’t sure what to really do in the first place.  It certainly wasn’t his place to get involved, even if he wanted to.  Any issue Ciel faced Sebastian wanted to help with.  He felt protective of people who were close to him and Ciel was no exception.  If anything, he was more the rule.   But he could tell that involving himself when it wasn’t his place would likely make Ciel more mad and stubborn than grateful. 

So instead Sebastian walked to the counter as if to order, and waved at Ciel from behind the screen, “Good afternoon Ciel.  Oh, I didn’t know you had company.  I apologize.”

Ciel looked up, and even his face seemed to betray his desire for assistance, but it quickly smoothed and he inclined his head, “Mr. Michaelis, a pleasure as always.  Meirin will make sure you’re comfortable.”

Sebastian took that as dismissal, but turned to observe the other man.  White haired and in an expensive cut suit, he looked the part of the handsome young business mogul.  But the expression on his face and general disdain certainly was apparent to Sebastian.  He seemed like the type of person you would only want to have to deal with when strictly necessary and who had to buy his friends rather than make them. 

“So, this place does receive paying customers,” the white-haired snob snarked, “I am surprised.  What does someone like you come to a place like this for?  Charles Grey of Charles’ Tea Emporium, by the way.”

Sebastian tried to ignore the slight against Ciel but his irritation was difficult to mask, “This place has some of the best tea blends I’ve had in ages.  And it is quiet and atmospheric, which is perfect for me to be able to get work done.”

The other man seemed to hardly notice the response.  Instead he took stock of the other man.  Probably trying to find fault with him so he could fault the store.  Sebastian was quickly losing patience for this kind of petty nonsense.  Ciel had a very specific business model, and that didn’t deserve scorn, especially from the likes of this young snot. 

“Well, as I said, I apologize for interrupting,” Sebastian gritted, “Mr. Phantomhive, I hope you might have some time later to discuss things.  But please, don’t rush on my account.  I’ll just be in my usual spot.”  He made sure to emphasize that he was going to be close by as he stared down the other man with the ugly bowl cut.

As Meirin brought his tea and a complimentary caprese sandwich over, Charles restarted his beratement, “Hmph well I suppose that’s you’re reasoning eh?”

Ciel was done, “Charles, if that’s all you have to say, I do have quite a bit to do today and I would like to see to my customers.  Is there anything else?”

“Uppity brat,” Charles scoffed, “Let me show you what you should be doing.”

A muffled yelp was all it took for Sebastian to be out of his seat and across the room.  Moving past the screen, Charles had gripped Ciel’s face and shoulder as Ciel furiously struggled and managed to bite the other man’s lip after forcing himself.  Both Bard and Sebastian bodily hauled the man out the room at that point, and threw him out the door. Bard had to stop Sebastian from going out after the white-haired man and beating him. 

When they got back inside, Finny and Meirin had seated Ciel at his table and set him up with his tea.  Other than the bruised lips and a slightly shocked look, Ciel seemed to be fine.  He even calmed more once Sebastian was seated and testing his tea.

“I’m sorry you had to see that… They’re rivals and pushy to say the least,” Ciel said.

Sebastian scowled, “Has he done that before?  You should press charges.”

Ciel shook his head, “Bard, Finny, and Meirin are always around, so he doesn’t try anything.  I guess he was just feeling bold today…”

Sebastian wondered about that but didn’t say anything.  For a while they enjoyed the silence together.  The others waited nervously, but then were distracted as people with to go orders started coming through for the afternoon break. 

“How is your writing going?”  
“Well enough,” Sebastian said, getting the chocolate cake out of his bag, “I have to admit it’s not going where I originally planned it to, and the discussions with my editor are going to be interesting.”

Ciel squinted, “What changed?”

Sebastian coughed, suddenly not sure what to say.  The reality was what had been a gritty and dark book, had turned into a bit of a love story… After coming to the tea house, Sebastian’s mood had just been too light to continue such a drab story.  And it felt especially refreshing to write something that wasn’t quite his norm.  It would still be a fast paced and intricate story, but his focus had just changed.  Ciel was certainly to blame for that.   
Instead of answering, he served the cake, “I hope you like this recipe. I think it turned out quite well with the raspberry sauce.”

Ciel’s eyes lit up at the sight, though he tried to dampen it, “It looks quite good.  Finny?  Could you bring us some of that new rosehip raspberry black tea with this?”  The blond quickly scrambled to do as told, climbing up the ladder to get to one of the high up wooden drawers on the wall.

As Ciel eagerly attacked the chocolate cake, some raspberry sauce got on his chin.  There was a moment where Sebastian thought to use his fingers and wipe the sauce off his chin, but a part of him knew that could be too forward.  But as Ciel happily munched, Sebastian wondered what was stopping him>  If Ciel didn’t like him, he could turn him down.  There would be a lot of disappointment on his part, but it was probably better than just pretending he was an average customer wasn’t it?

So, with no shame, the man swiped his fingers across Ciel’s chin, “You missed some…” He licked the chocolate raspberry sauce off his fingers.   
Ciel’s eyes were as wide as the teacups they served out of for a beat.  Then he made a grumpy face, “You’re awfully forward.  If you’re going to do that just do it right!”  And with that Ciel leaned over the table and planted his lips squarely on Sebastian.  A thrill went up both their spines as they separated and stared. 

“Are you single Ciel?”

Ciel flushed, “Yeah I guess you’ll do.”

Behind them, the trio were trying not to scream their excitement. 


End file.
